Automatic shifting device of the traverse box of a pirn winder



y 1970 TSUTOMU FURUICHI ETAL 3,520,484

AUTOMATIC SHIFTING DEVICE OF THE TRAVERSE BOX OF A PIHN WINDER Filed May 22, 1968 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jul 14, 1970 TSUTOMU FURUICHI ETAL 3,520,434

AUTOMATIC SHIFTING DEVICE OF THE TRAVERSE BOX OF A PIRN WINDER Flled May 22, 1968 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 3,520,484 OF THE TRAVERSE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 9 MM Q UlCHI ETAL ICE N WINDER July 14, 1970 TSUTOMU FUR AUTOMATIC SHIFTING BOX OF A Filed May 22, 1968 =15 IEI WH \U h 9 y 1970 TSUTOMU FURUICHI ETAL 3,520,484

AUTOMATIC SHIFTING DEVICE OF THE TRAVERSE BOX OF A PIRN WINDER 6 Sheets-$heet 41 Filed May 22, 1968 y 14, 1970 TSUTOMU FURUICHI ETAL 3,520,484

AUTOMATIC SHIFTING DEVICE OF THE TRAVERSE BOX OF A PIRN WINDER Flled May 22, 1968 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 14 1970 TSUTOMU FURUICHI ETAL 3 AUTOMATIC SHIFTING DEVICE OF THE TRAVERSE BOX OF A PIRN WINDER Filed May 22, 1968 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 United States Patent 01 fice 3,520,484 Patented July 14, 1970 3,520,484 AUTOMATIC SHIFTIN G DEVICE OF THE TRAVERSE BOX OF A PIRN WIN DER Tsutomu Furuichi, Itami-shi, and Toshio Nozu, Amagasaki-shi, Japan, assignors to Furuichi Kenkyusho Ltd., Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, a company of Japan Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 496,647, Oct. 15, 1965. This application May 22, 1968, Ser. No. 738,369 Claims priority, application Japan, May 24, 1965, 40/ 40,607 Int. Cl. B65h 54/14 US. Cl. 242-27 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In an automatic pirn winder shifting of the traverse device is effected by mechanism comprising an oscillatory drive member and a pair of one-way clutches for transmitting movement to the traverse device under control of a pneumatic sensing device to produce smooth pirns of uniform size irrespective of the yarn size.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our application Ser. No. 496,647 filed Oct. 15, 1965, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to an automatic shifting device having a flapper relay detecting element using air pressure so as to produce pirns uniformly of the desired shape and size, without the detecting element touching the wound yarn during the winding operation.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a unique mechanism for producing perfect pirns of the exact size with an undamaged, smooth surface regardless of the count and kind of yarn to be wound, whether it is of natural or man-made fibers, spun or monofilament; without any manual adjustment for different yarn thicknesses to meet the requirement of the Weavers as they usually desire the same size of pirns for the same looms in spite of frequent changes in the weft yarns.

Another purpose of this invention is to provide rugged construction of the traverse shifting motion to warrant long life and minimum wear, since repair must be minimized in an automatic machine to reduce production cost as well as to increase the machine efliciency.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shifting motion of the traverse box which is dust-proof as much as possible by dispensing with parts such as the shifting screws which are commonly used for the shifting motion because fly tends to accumulate on the screw and wrap around it by rotation of the screws. Such layer of fly cannot be easily cleaned even by strong air blasts.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mechanism to shift the traverse motion uniformly with a sensitive advancing motion to obtain a smooth pirn surface.

Another object of this invention is to have the shifting mechanism of the traverse advance steadily without any adjustment to suit the various kinds of yarn, as long as the size of the pirn is unchanged, and without any retarding interval which causes formation of a thick rib on the face of the pirn. In the conventional method using an airflap, a pair of friction members is usually used as the braking means for permitting traverse advance or retard, and fine and delicate manual adjustment is required to regulate the amount of advance or retard per period. Furthermore, the amount of movement varies during operation due to accumulation of fly or dust on the friction elements or because of fatigue of the diaphragm and wear of the operating parts.

Further, if even a very small external force is exerted on the shifting movement unexpectedly, it will affect the friction member to stop the progress of the traverse box and consequently a heavy thick layer of yarn is produced. This kind of motion is undesirable as it will damage not only the pirn itself but the entire mechanism, unless some costly safety device is provided.

Another purpose of this invention is to provide a shifting motion of the cam box which will avoid over-running motion by employing a pair of one-way clutches. In another conventional method for a similar purpose, overrunning occurs occasionally either by excess pressure being exerted on the friction member so as to permit the moving traverse box to run freely, or by failure to apply the proper retarding action against the inertia of the moving box.

Conventional mechanisms using an air micro pressure to shift the traverse motion of the pirn winders have one or more of the defects mentioned above but this invention eliminates all such troubles and provides a fully reliable automatic shifting device for the traverse box of a pirn Winder.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view, partly in section, showing the general arrangement of an automatic shifting device having an air micro detecting element, a bellows, a pair of one-way clutches, a rack and a pinon, a cam box, and a pirn,

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the operation method of the cam box shifting device of this invention,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, showing in detail the motion of the clutches and the transfer of the action of the lever to the pinion which drives the rack,

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section showing another embodiment of automatic shifting mechanism according to the invention,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line VV in FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan of the automatic shifting device of FIG. 4,

FIG. 7 is a side view looking in the direction indicated by the line VII-VII in FIG. 5,

FIG. 8 is a plan partly in section illustrating a modification, and

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the air circuit of the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 8.

In FIG. 1 are shown the cam box 1 of the traverse device of an automatic pirn winder, an air orifice 2, an inlet pipe 3 from the main air supply tube 5, and a pipe 4 connected to a bellows 6.

The bobbin B and the pirn P are driven by a spindle 7 which in turn is driven by a suitable method, for example, by an endless timing belt passing around pulley 8. A pair of one-way roller clutches 13 and 14 are arranged to turn the shaft 12 and the pinion 11 attached to it, and are actuated by the movement of the lever 15, the motion of which is fully described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The shaft 12 is rotatably supported by suitable bearings 12a and 12b. A flexible driving cable 9 drives the traverse cam C, one end of the center cable being fixed to the cam while the other end is connected to a driving means (not shown).

The air which is supplied to the main tube 5 by a blower or other suitable source, passes through the flexible pipe 3 and the orifice 2, and is blown out into the atmosphere. As long as there is sufiicient space to allow the air to discharge without resistance, the air will not return to the orifice and thus does not flow through the flexible tube to the bellows 6. Therefore the bellows will not expand and no action takes place in connection with the shifting motion, and the cam box will be maintained stationary to continue the winding operation with a traverse motion provided by the traverse cam C. However, as the layer of the yarn is increasing by winding, the space between the opening of the orifice and the surface of the pirn is gradually decreased and as soon as the air discharged from orifice 2 meets a resistance from the surface of the pirn, the air begins to return to the orifice but it is opposed by the pressure of the air from the main pipe and hence the return air goes to pipe 4, that is to say it makes a U-turn and flows through the pipe 4 to the bellows 6.

Referring to FIG. 2, a push rod 21 is attached to the bottom of the bellows 6. The top cover of the bellows is fixed to the frame but the bottom which is provided with the push rod 21 is so arranged that it moves vertically upon contraction and expansion of the bellows according to the pressure inside the bellows within the range designated by the designer.

A lever '20 is pivota'bly mounted by a pin 24 on the frame of the winder. One end of the lever is in contact with the bottom of the rod 21 through an anti-friction roller 22 while at the other end an anti-friction roller 23 contacts with a projection 16 of a lever 15. As the lever 20 is always pulled upward by a spring Slas shown in the drawing, the roller 22 tends to swing upwardly. Referring to the lower part of the drawing, a face cam 27 is driven by a timing belt 29 through a pulley 30 and shaft 28.

An L-shaped lever 18, pivoted on pin 31, is provided at its lower end with an anti-friction follower roller which is kept in contact with the face cam 27 by the spring S3 to impart an oscillating movement to the other end of the lever 18 provided with an anti-friction roller 26. When the bottom end of the bellows decends from position a to b, the push rod 21 starts to press the roller 22 down against the spring S1 and the roller 23 is turned counter-clockwise towards the position 23' (dotted line). This takes place when the pirn has grown thick and the cam box must be shifted forwardly on the guide rod 19 by means of the air action as explained above.

Thus a clearance is formed between the roller in position 23 and the projection 16 of the lever 15. Therefore, when the other end 17 of the lever 15 is allowed to swing up by being released from the pressure of the roller 26 of the lever 18, the lever 15 will turn clockwise in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in FIG. 3. Since the clutch 13 is firmly held in the lever 15, the cup of the clutch will also turn with the lever 15 but the clutch runs freely with the shaft 12, because the rollers in the clutch are pushed back to a space larger than the rollers, as seen in FIG. 3.

However, while the clutch mentioned above is in motion, the shaft 12 must remain still and for this purpose the second clutch 14 is provided and its cup is held in a part of the frame to maintain the shaft stationary as shown in FIG. 3.

As the roller 25 of the lower arm of lever 18 is in contact with the face cam 27, the lever oscillates about its pivot at pin 31, and the anti-friction roller 26 at the other end of the L-lever 18 presses down the projection 17 of the lever 15 in a downward rocking motion. Thus lever 15, together with the cup of clutch 13, will turn counterclockwise, and the rollers in the clutch will nip the shaft 12 by a wedge action. Hence, the shaft with the pinion attached to it will rotate counter-clockwise also, and the rack 10 which is meshed with the pinion, will move forwardly. As will be seen in FIG. 1 the front end of the rack 10 is engaged with the cam box 1, and will be shifted to the extent the pinion can turn, whereas the second clutch 14 permits the shaft to run freely, which is the feature of the one-way clutch.

In practice, the operation as described above is performed very speedily as the rate of oscillating motion of the lever 18 is as high as 950 cycles per minute and the expansion and contraction of the bellows by the air at the orifioe against the surface of pirn works very sensitively regardless of the kind of the yarn to be wound to produce a very smooth surface by an accurate and fine movement of the shifting motion.

When the rack 10 reaches the end of its movement, the position of which decides the winding length of the pirn, it is lifted with the guide 10a and pushed back by a suitable means (not shown in the drawing) to the starting point of the winding operation. The pinion 11 and" the train of the driving mechanism including the bellows, several levers, and the clutches are all encased and are not covered by fly and dust but they are not shown in the drawing in order to show these parts clearly for convenience sake, and only the rack is exposed but it does not rotate and the teeth at the bottom are open'dowm wardly so that there is no chance of accumulation of fly and dust to obstruct the operation.

In FIGS. 4 to 7 there is shown another embodiment of the invention in which anautomatic shifting device for the traverse mechanism of'a pirn winder comprises a pneumatic detector and shifting mechanism comprising a pair of one-way clutches controlled by the pneumatic detector. I

The traverse mechanism T has a rotating traverse cam 32.

A traverse rod 33 is pivoted on a shaft 38 and is provided with a traverse motion by means of a cam follower 33a which engages the traverse cam 32. The cam 32. is secured on a cam shaft 34 by a key, so as to rotate with the cam shaft 34. The traverse mechanism T is slidably mounted on a guide shaft 35, so as to, shift forward or backward along the axis of the guide shaft 35,, and a pair of one-way clutches 70 and 71 are disposed on the guide shaft 35. The clutch 70 is secured to the traverse mechanism T by bolts 65a and the other clutch 71 is movablerelative to the traverse mechanism and is disposed between the rear side of the pivot shaft 38 and a support? ing arm 36 which is projected outwardly from the traverse mechanism T and is provided with a helical compression spring 37.

The clutch 70 comprises a cylindrical element 65 having a conical inner surface 66, a sliding support sleeve 61 which is slidably engaged with the guide shaft 35 and slidably supports the cylindrical element 65 at its outer end portion and a retainer 67 which is formed with a conical surface at one end so as to correspond to the shape of the conical inner surface 66 of the cylindrical element 65 and has a cylindrical bore coaxial with the conical surface of the retainer 67 so as to engage sildably with the guide shaft 35. Two or more small cylindrical recesses are disposed in the retainer at symmetrical positions to the axis and at the inner side of the retainer. Helical compression springs 68 are disposed in each of the cylindrical recesses so as to push balls 64 disposed in the space between the inner surface 66 of the cylindrical element 65 and the guide shaft 35, respectively. The conical inner surface 66 of the cylindrical element 65 converges inthe forward direction of the traverse mechanism. The supporting sleeve 61 is provided with a flange 63 at an outer end of the same and a conical compression spring 62 is disposed between the flange 63 and an outer edge .of the cylindrical element 65. The supporting sleeve 61 is provided with an inner flange at an inner end of the same so as to fix the disposed position of the same by engaging with an inner flange portion of the cylindrical element 65 when the spring 62 pushes the flange 63 forward. Therefore, by the engagement of the balls 64 which the conical inner space of the cylindrical element 65, the backward movement of the cylindrical element 65 is completely prevented unless the balls 64 are pushed in the backward direction by means of pushing the supporting sleeve 61 I into the cylindrical element 65. This is one of the features of the automatic shifting device of this embodiment.

The construction of the one-way clutch 71 is almost the same as that of the one-way clutch 70, except that the clutch 71 is connected with traverse mechanism 31 through the compression spring 37 which is disposed in a cylindrical sleeve portion 36a of the projecting element 36 and surrounding the guide shaft 35. A shifting handle 58 comprises branch arms 59, 60 which are slidable on the guide shaft 35 at the end of the shifting handle 58, respectively, 150 as to contact with the forward end of the supporting sleeves 61 and 61' of the clutches 70 and 71 respectively. Therefore, when the shifting handle 58 is pushed back by an operator, so as to push back the supporting sleeves 61 and 61, the balls 64 and 64' are pushed back, then the cylindrical elements 65 and 65 can be pushed back to suitable backward positions along the guide shaft 35.

An arm 39 is secured to the pivot shaft 38 of the traverse rod 33 so as to oscillate with the traverse rod 33 and a roller 40 disposed at the top end of the arm 39 faces a surface 41 of a cylindrical element 65' of the clutch 71. When the traverse rod 33 is turned in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 4, the roller 40 moves to the position of the dotted line, therefore, if the clutch 71 is shifted in a forward direction by a response mechanism as de scribed hereinafter, the roller 40, by its reaction, pushes the pivot shaft 38 which is secured to the traverse mechanism T forwardly since the clutch 71 can not shift in a backward direction, and the clutch 70 does not interfere with the forward movement of the traverse mechanism T. When the roller 40 is turned in the counter-clockwise direction, the roller 40 moves away from the surface 41 of the clutch 71 and the clutch 70 maintains the position of the traverse mechanism 31 without moving in the backward direction.

As mentioned above, the traverse mechanism T is shifted in the forward direction by a relative motion to the traverse motion of the traverse rod 33. One end of the bellows 53 is secured rigidly to the traverse mechanism 31 and the other end is slidably secured to the traverse mechanism T through a coaxial slide shaft 55. A pin 56 passes through the shaft 55 and is in constant contact with a Y- shaped end portion of a lever 42. The lever 42. is pivotally secured at its middle portion to a pivot 43 of the traverse mechanism, and one end of a helical tension spring 57 is secured to the lever 42 at an intermediate position between the pivot 43 and the Y-shaped end of the lever and the other end of the spring 57 is secured to the traverse mechanism T so as to provide a balancing force to the expansion force of the bellows 53 which is produced by air pressure. The other end of the lever 42 is in constant contact with the surface 41 of the cylindrical element 65' of the one-way clutch 71 so as to permit the forward shifting of the cylindrical element 65 by the pushing action of the compression spring 37 when the expansion force of the bellows 53 overcomes the resisting force of the spring 57 and the lower end of the arm 42 moves forward and away from the surface 41 of the cylindrical element 65.

As mentioned above, when the lower end of the lever 42 moves away from the surface 41 of the cylindrical element 65', the roller 40 can not move to the position of the dotted line shown in FIG. 4, unless the traverse mechanism moves forward, because the cylindrical element 65 can not move in the backward direction unless the sup porting ring 61 is pushed back. Therefore, the traverse mechanism T is shifted to the forward direction by the traverse motion of the traverse rod 33 and lever 39.

The magnitude of tension force of the spring 57 is slightly large than the sum of the magnitude of the expansion force of the bellows in its initial condition which means a condition of stopping the traverse mechanism T and the compression force of the spring 37 which is always pushing the cylindrical element 65.

A flapper relay 44 is provided with an orifice 45 at its lower end and another orifice 46 at its inner portion, a guide tube 47 connected with the flapper relay 44 at the intermediate portion between the orifice 45 and 46 and the other end of the guide tube 47 is connected to the bellows 53. The tube 47 is rigidly secured to an end of a lever 48 which is pivotably secured to the traverse mechanism T by a pivot 49 and other end of the lever 48 is provided with a shaft for a guide roller 50. One end of a helical tension spring '51 is secured to the lever 48 and the other end is secured to the traverse mechanism T so as to provide a constant contact of the guide roller 50 with a guide rail 52. Therefore, the position of the orifice 45 of the flapper relay 44 is controlled by the pattern of the guide rail 52 irrespective of the position of the traverse mechanism T.

The above mentioned orifice 45 detects the thickness of yarn wound on the bobbin, in other words, when an ejection of air or suction of air through the orifice 4-5 is prevented by an excessive winding of yarn on the bobbin, a back pressure in the 'bellows 53 increases or decreases, the bellows 53 extends or contracts, respectively in accordance with the back pressure in the bellows 53. Therefore, the balancing between the sum of force of the bellows 53 and the spring 57 is broken, then the lever 42 is turned so that the lower end of the lever 42 moves away from the face of the clutch 71, and the forward movement of the clutch 71 is permitted.

Therefore, while the orifice 45 is in a close position to the surface of the wound yarn, the traverse mechanism T is continuously moved in the forward direction and the orifice of the flapper relay 44 is also continuously moved in the forward direction together with the traverse mechanism T.

As the path of the forward shifting motion of the orifice, 45 is controlled by the guide rail 52, a predetermined shape of pirn a is produced according to the shifting path of the orifice 45.

In FIGS. 8 and 9 another embodiment of the mechanical response mechanism is shown. Construction of the shifting device is almost the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 with the exception of the construction of the flapper relay. In this embodiment, the bellows 53 is connected to a second bellows 54 by a connecting shaft 55 and the other end is rigidly secured to the traverse mechanism T and is connected with the flapper relay 73 by a conduit 74-. The bellows 54 is also rigidly secured to the traverse mechanism and connected with a conduit which is connected to the same air source as the flapper relay 73. FIG. 9 shows the piping connections of these 'bellows 5-3 and 54. The lever 42 is pivotally secured to a pivot 43 of the traverse mechanism at its middle portion and a Y-shaped end of the lever 42 which slidably engages with the pin 56 of sliding shaft 55. Compressed air is supplied from an air source 77. A pipe 78 connected to the air source 77 branches into two pipes 79 and 80, and compressed air is supplied to the flapper relay 73 through the pipe 79 and compressed air is also supplied through the pipe 80 to an adjustable orifice 76 discharging to the atmosphere. The bellows 53 is connected with the pipe 79, and the bellows 54 is also connected with the pipe '80. An adjustable valve 81 is disposed in the pipe 79 and an adjustable valve 82 is disposed in the pipe 80, respectively, as shown in the drawing.

In this arrangement of air circuit, the adjustment of valves 81 and 82 and of aperture 76 are predetermined so as to maintain a balance between an expansion force of the bellows '53 against the sum of an expansion force of the bellows 54 and a compression force of the spring 37 when the distance between the yarn surface of the pirn and a bottom end of the orifice 73 is maintained at the predetermined magnitude. Therefore, when the distance between the yarn surface of the pirn and the lower end of the orifice 45 decreases to a value 'below the predetermined magnitude, the inner pressure of the bellows 53 increases, in other words, the expansion force of the bellows 53 increases, whereupon the shaft 55 slides to the left (in FIG. 8), and the lower end of the lever 42 moves away from the surface 41 of the cylindrical element 65 of the one-way clutch 71 and the forward movement of the clutch 71 is permitted.

Even if there is any fluctuation in air pressure of the compressed air source 77, by the air circuit of this embodiment, the accuracy of detecting thickness of yarn wound on the bobbin is not affected.

In the above mentioned embodiments, any suitable gaseous material can be used in place of air for the flapper relay.

As described above, the detecting device of the flapper relay is applied for measuring a thickness of pirn so as to detect the precise dimension without touching the yarn wound on the bobbin. Therefore, it is clear that there is no chance of injuring the yarn by abrasive action of the detecting element.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with certain embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim is:

1. In an automatic pirn winder having a traverse box movable axially of a pirn being wound and comprising yarn guide means, an automatic shifting device comprising detecting means including an orifice directing air toward a pirn being wound, means for supplying air to said orifice, a side branch opening laterally from said orifice in position to receive back pressure from said orifice when the periphery of the pirn being wound approaches said orifice, pressure responsive means connected with said side branch, an oscillating drive member, means including a pair of one-way clutches for transmitting movement of said oscillating member to said traverse box to shift said box, and means controlled by said pressure responsive means for activating said movement transmitting means to move said traverse box only when a predetermined pressure is applied to said pressure responsive means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said movement transmitting means comprises a rack aflixed to said traverse box and a pinion engaging said rack, one of said one-way clutches transmitting movement from said oscillating member to said pinion and the other of said oneway clutches preventing retrogressivemovement of said pinion. 1

3. Apparatus according to claim-2, in which said oneway clutch comprises a rotatable member having two arms one of which is engageable by said oscillating member when said'rotatable member is in operative'position, and in which means movable by said pressure responsive means is engageable with the other ofsaid two arms to retain said rotary member in inoperative position in which said one arm is out of the range of movement ofvsaid oscillating member. r 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, in whichsaidoneway clutches are slidable along a guide rod, one of said one-way clutches having a clutch member fixed to said traverse box and the other of said one-way clutches having a clutch member movable by said oscillating member when said last mentioned clutch member isin the range of movement of said oscillating member. 1

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, in ,which a member controlled by said pressure responsive means is engageable with said last mentioned clutch member to retain it out of the range of movement of said oscillating member when the pressure applied to said pressure responsive means is below a predetermined value.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4, comprising means for releasing both of said one-way clutches for movement of said traverse box toward its initial position. 7. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprisinga guide rail extending generally lengthwise of the axis of said pirn and having a shape correspondingto the desired shape of a full pirn, and means for guiding said detecting means along said guide rail during winding of a pirn whereby the shape of the pirn is conformed to the shape of said guide rail.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,681,183 6/1954 Mushamp et al. 24227 FOREIGN PATENTS 857,717 1/1961 Great Britain.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner W. H. SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner 

